Matthew 9:9-13
The Calling of Matthew
9 As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.
10 While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
12 On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13 But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
John 1:1-14
The Word Becomes Flesh
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. 9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
I love these verses about Jesus recruiting Matthew, who is a sinn, because I, too, am a sinner, and need His help...When Jesus recruited one of His Disciples, he was a tax collector...Jesus knew that the tax collector was a sinner...No one would doubt this, not even Matthew...This sinner was known by the Pharisees...The tax collector was probably even well known by many as he went around collecting taxes for the Romans...So one of Jesus' closest followers would be this tax collector and sinner...Maybe because Matthew was a tax collector for the Romans, he might not have had as many friends as others who worked in a different type job...But this did not matter to Jesus...All of Jesus Disciples were sinners...In fact, all of Jesus' followers were sinners...The Pharisees admitted this to Him, that the house He was in and having supper was full of sinners...
This sinner who would be One of His Original Disciples, would go on to write the Gospel According to Matthew...Jesus knew this tax collector was a sinner...And Jesus would go to his house and eat with many tax collectors and sinners and Pharisees that night...This Very Holy Man was eating with sinners, and was in this house with many who had sinned...And we know that Jesus hated sin and sinning, because He has been with God from the beginning...So an interesting point is that the Holiest Man on Earth, and the Holiest One ever to dwell among us was comfortable around sinners, eating with them, conversing with them, and teaching them...And He constantly set down with sinners and broke bread and taught about God...
Jesus knew He was disrupting the concepts about God and the Bible as the Pharisees watched and listened to Him...Not only on this night, but each time they listened to Him...He felt compassion for the sinner and said He came to earth to help and save the sinners of the world, including this group, He was with that night...Jesus meets the needs of the individual human, especially because we sin...He met the needs of Matthew...Jesus is compassionate, holy, and sacred -and He felt and feels the need to help each of us...He was comfortable in Himself and lived out His life in this sacred and holy way -which means compassionately helping others...No matter what your status was in life, He was there and is there to help you...He most frequently helped the poor, those who had little, those who were in trouble, those who not accepted socially, and those who just needed help in their daily struggles with life...This sounds like an easy thing to do, yet try to love each and every one of your neighbors each and everyday...Try to love your enemies, too...Jesus LOVED a variety of different sinners...We seem to get hung up on those who have different sins than we do...But Jesus never did...
His acts and works and miracles puzzled the Pharisees, yet to the troubled groups above, He met their needs and their wants, as they listened to Him...He was a Great Mystery to the Pharisees...Yet, in this Great Mystery He answers the needs of mankind...Jesus is forgiving and full of grace and truth, and He is the One who desires mercy, not sacrifice -and He wants us to know and learn what this means...